Full Tour Participants (Eligible for Tour Bonus Pool)
| Viswanathan Anand | |
|---|---|
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| Country | India |
| Born |
December 11, 1969 India |
| Title | Grandmaster (1988) |
| FIDE rating | 2770 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 11 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2817 (March 2011) |
| Peak ranking | No. 1 (April 2007) |
| Profile | The former World Chess Champion and oldest player in the Tour field became India's first grandmaster in 1988. He held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002 and became the undisputed World Chess Champion in 2007. He defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008, Veselin Topalov in 2010 and Boris Gelfand in 2012 before finally losing the title to Magnus Carlsen in their World Chess Championship match in 2013. |
| Levon Aronian | |
|---|---|
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| Country | Armenia |
| Born |
October 6, 1982 Armenia |
| Title | Grandmaster (2000) |
| FIDE rating | 2784 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 7 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2830 (March 2014) |
| Peak ranking | No. 2 (January 2012) |
| Profile | Winner of the Chess World Cup in 2005. He has also led the Armenian national team to the Gold medals in three Chess Olympics (Turin, Dresden, Istanbul) as well as to Gold at the World Team Chess Championship in 2011. He won the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010. He was also World Rapid Chess Champion in 2009, and World Blitz Chess Champion in 2010. Aronian has been the leading Armenian chess player since the early 2000’s. |
| Fabiano Caruana | |
|---|---|
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| Country | USA |
| Born |
July 30, 1992 USA |
| Title | Grandmaster (2007) |
| FIDE rating | 2804 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 2 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2844 (October 2014) |
| Peak ranking | No. 2 (October 2014) |
| Profile | At various times the No. 2 ranked player in the world Caruana became a Grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 20 days. He was the youngest grandmaster in the history of the United States until this record was beaten in 2009 by Ray Robson. In October 2014 he achieved an Elo rating of 2844 becoming the third highest rated player in history. |
| Anish Giri | |
|---|---|
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| Country | Netherlands |
| Born |
June 28, 1994 Russia |
| Title | Grandmaster (2009) |
| FIDE rating | 2790 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 3 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2798 (October 2015) |
| Peak ranking | No. 7 (February 2015) |
| Profile | The Russian-born Dutch Grandmaster achieved the grandmaster title at the age of 14 years and 7 months. Giri is a four-time Dutch Chess Champion (2009, 2011, 2012, and 2015) and won the Corus Chess B Group in 2010. He has also represented the Netherlands at three Chess Olympiads (Russia, Turkey, Norway). |
| Vladimir Kramnik | |
|---|---|
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| Country | Russia |
| Born |
June 25, 1975 Russia |
| Title | Grandmaster (1992) |
| FIDE rating | 2801 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 3 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2811 (May 2013) |
| Peak ranking | No. 1 (January 1996) |
| Profile | Holder of the Classical World Chess Champion title from 2000 to 2006 as well as the title of FIDE World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007. He has won three team gold medals at Chess Olympiads. He earned the title of World Champion by defeating Garry Kasparov in October 2000 held it until losing the title match for the World Championship to Viswanathan Anand in 2007. |
| Hikaru Nakamura | |
|---|---|
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| Country | USA |
| Born |
December 9, 1987 Japan |
| Title | Grandmaster (2003) |
| FIDE rating | 2787 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 6 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2816 (October 2015) |
| Peak ranking | No. 2 (October 2015) |
| Profile | Nakamura is a four-time United States Chess Champion who also won the 2011 edition of the Tata Steel Group A. He has represented the United States at five Chess Olympiads, winning two team bronze medals. In May 2014, when FIDE began publishing its official rapid and blitz chess ratings, Nakamura was ranked number one in the world on both lists. |
| Wesley So | |
|---|---|
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| Country | USA |
| Born |
October 9, 1993 Phillippines |
| Title | Grandmaster (2008) |
| FIDE rating | 2775 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 10 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2788 (February 2015) |
| Peak ranking | No. 7 (February 2015) |
| Profile | A former chess prodigy who became the youngest player to pass the 2600 threshold in October 2008, breaking the record previously held by Magnus Carlsen. In February 2015 he entered the World top 10 after tying for second place at the 2015 Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He is a three-time Philippines Chess Champion and also won the Bilbao Chess Masters Final in 2015. |
| Veselin Topalov | |
|---|---|
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| Country | Bulgaria |
| Born |
March 15, 1975 Bulgaria |
| Title | Grandmaster (1992) |
| FIDE rating | 2754 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 10 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2816 (July 2015) |
| Peak ranking | No. 1 (October 2008) |
| Profile | The Bulgarian number 1 became the FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2005. He lost his title in the 2006 World Chess Championship match against Vladimir Kramnik and was also narrowly defeated by Vishy Anand in their match for the World Chess Championship title in 2010. |
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | |
|---|---|
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| Country | France |
| Born |
October 21, 1990 France |
| Title | Grandmaster (2005) |
| FIDE rating | 2788 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 5 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2792 (March 2016) |
| Peak ranking |
No. 5 (April 2015) World Junior Champion (2009) |
| Profile | Often referred to as MVL, he came to prominence in 2009 after winning the title of World Junior Chess Champion. He is currently the No. 1 ranked player in France as well as a three-time French champion (2007, 2011, Shared in 2012). He is also a four-time winner of the Biel Grandmaster Tournament (2009, 2013, 2014, 2015). |
Wildcards for the 2016 Grand Chess Tour
|
Magnus Carlsen Tournaments: Paris & Leuven |
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| Country | Norway |
| Born |
November 30, 1990 Norway |
| Title | Grandmaster (2004) |
| FIDE rating | 2851 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 1 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2882 (May 2014) |
| Peak ranking | No. 1 (January 2010) |
| Profile | Currently the No. 1 ranked player in the world as well as the reigning World Chess Champion in both classical and rapid chess. His peak rating of 2882 is the highest in the history of the game. Carlsen was regarded as a chess prodigy as a youngster and became a Grandmaster in 2004 at the age of just 13. In 2010, when he was 19, he became the youngest chess player to be ranked as the FIDE world No. 1. In 2013, he earned the title of World Chess Champion by defeating Viswanathan Anand in their first match for the World Chess Championship. |
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Laurent Fressinet Tournament: Paris |
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| Country | France |
| Born |
November 20, 1981 France |
| Title | Grandmaster (2000) |
| FIDE rating | 2692 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 46 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2720 (June 2015) |
| Peak ranking | No. 29 (August 2012) |
| Profile | Winner of the French National Championships in both 2010 and 2014 he also placed second in the 2012 European Individual Chess Championship. Known as a strong blitz and rapid player, he has twice been runner-up at the European Blitz Championships (2006 and 2007). In 2015 he also won the 4th Anatoly Karpov Rapid tournament in Cap d'Agde by defeating Karpov himself in the final. |
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Ding Liren Tournament: St. Louis |
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| Country | China |
| Born |
October 24, 1992 China |
| Title | Grandmaster (2009) |
| FIDE rating | 2778 (May 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 9 (May 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2782 (September 2015) |
| Peak ranking | No. 7 (September 2015) |
| Profile | The highest rated Chinese player ever and only the second player from China (after Wang Yue) to break into the world’s top 10. At the age of 16, he became the youngest person ever to win the title of Chinese Champion. He has since won this title twice more in both 2011 and 2012. In the 2015 Tata Steel Tournament, Ding finished in a tie for second place just half a point behind Magnus Carlsen. |
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Peter Svidler Tournament: St. Louis |
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| Country | Russia |
| Born |
June 17, 1976 Russia |
| Title | Grandmaster (1994) |
| FIDE rating | 2751 (August 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 18 (August 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2769 (May 2013) |
| Peak ranking | No. 4 (January 2004) |
| Profile | Peter is a 7 time Russian Chess Champion (1994, 1995, 1997, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2013) and has represented the Russian Olympiad team 10 times helping his team win the gold medal in his first five appearances. By winning the 2011 Chess World Cup, he qualified for Candidates stage of the 2013 World Championship cycle. In that event, Peter soundly defeated the eventual World Champion, Magnus Carlsen. He is also a world-renowned chess commentator. |
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Michael Adams Tournament: London |
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| Country | England |
| Born |
November 17, 1971 England |
| Title | Grandmaster (1989) |
| FIDE rating | 2727 (August 2016) |
| Ranking | No. 28 (August 2016) |
| Peak rating | 2761 (September 2013) |
| Peak ranking | No. 4 (October 2000) |
| Profile | The Cornishman has been England’s leading player since 1999 and has consistently recorded outstanding performances and been a member of the world elite for the better part of 20 years. Other highlights of his career include reaching the final of the 2004 FIDE World Championship and winning the Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meeting in 2013. |